The Yul Edochie Syndrome & Things Fall Apart’s Okonkwo’s Wives

Despite the fact that Okonkwo cares and loves his wives, he still prioritizes his pride over anything else.

Important Terms:

• Okonkwo: the main character
• Nwoye’s mother: the mother of Nwoye, Okonkwo’s firstborn son, and Okonkwo’s 1st wife
• Ekwefi: Okonkwo’s 2nd wife
• Ojiugo: Okonkwo’s 3rd wife

Okonkwo’s Wives A Yul Edochie Mirror .

Conclusion:

Takeaway

As seen through multiple passages in the book, Things Fall Apart, all three of Okonkwo’s wives had feared him, while receiving the same amount of love the other wives would get. These women were considered equal by Okonkwo. However, all three women had committed various acts of disrespect toward Okonkwo and received disciplinary actions. All three of these women hold an important place in Okonkwo’s heart and helped to support him as the story went on, yet they still were put aside when Okonkwo thought about his pride. They are all important, but not important enough for Okonkwo to set aside his pride.

Quote #5:

“Ekwefi ladled her husband’s share of the pottage into a bowl and covered it. Ezinma took it to him in his obi.Okonkwo was sitting on a goatskin already eating his first wife’s meal. Obiageli, who had brought it from her mother’s hut, sat on the floor waiting for him to finish…He uncovered his second wife’s dish and began to eat from it. Obiageli took the first dish and returned to her mother’s hut. And then Nkechi came in, bringing the third dish. Nkechi was the daughter of Okonkwo’s third wife.” (5.54-65)

Commentary

In this quote, Okonkwo ate the food in order of his marriages. The daughters of his wives bring out the dishes. This event shows that domestic life was very organized in Igbo society. He also cared for each of his wives equally because he ate all of the food that they made.

BY: Radhika B, Faba V, & Julie C

Quote #4:

“We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessing our crops would not grow. You have committed a great evil [….] Your wife was at fault, but even if you came into your obi and found her lover on top of her, you would still have committed a great evil to beat her…The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish.” His tone now changed from anger to command. “You will bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat, one hen, a length of cloth and a hundred cowries.” (4.22)

Commentary

This quote shows that Okonkwo sinned by beating his wife during the Week of Peace. Although he only has to pay a fine and sacrifice an animal, in his society, domestic violence is only a crime if it is during the Week of Peace. This emphasizes that Okonkwo frequently beat his wives because they did not respect him in some way. To Okonkwo, his wives are beneath him and he needs them to be obedient to him.

Quote #2:

Quote #3:

“‘Who is that?’ he growled. He knew it must be Ekwefi. Of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door,” (Achebe, 59-60).

“Okonkwo’s second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food, and she said so. Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping…He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. He threw down the gun and jumped into the barn and there lay the woman, very much shaken and frightened but quite unhurt. He heaved a heavy sigh and went away with the gun. “(Achebe, 29).

Commentary

Introduction

This quote introduces the part of the book in which Ezinma, Okonkwo’s favorite child, falls ill. This begins with Ekwefi, Ezinma’s mother, running to Okonkwo’s hut and knocking on his door in order to tell him that Ezinma is sick. Okonkwo hears the knocking and immediately thinks that it’s Ekwefi, most likely because she’s done something like this before. However, although he beat her earlier in the book for doing something disrespectful, it is never mentioned in the book that he later punishes her for waking him up. This is most likely because even though what she did was rude, given the gravity of the situation, he probably was more worried about his child rather than how respectful his wife was towards him. This also shows that he has built up tolerance for some of her actions, since she has most likely done something similar to this for different reasons. He would have only built up tolerance for her deeds if he had loved her and was willingly to let some things go.

Topic:

Troughout the novel, Things Fall Apart, many people impacted Okonkwo’s development and were influenced by him in turn. He had multiple wives, each with a different importance to him as the story progressed and yet each had supported him in some shape or form. The three wives that he had, Nwoye’s mother, Ekwefi, and Ojiugo, shared similarities in that they all feared Okonkwo and Okonkwo loved them all equally. However, Okonkwo considered respect to be extremely important and some wives were more disrespectful than others which is why Okonkwo would beat them and discipline.

Commentary

This quote shows that like the other wives, Ekwefi was punished for her actions, which in this case, was her cutting down a banana tree. As a result, Okonkwo proceeded to beat his wife as punishment for cutting down the tree. However, after he is finished beating her, Ekwefi begins to mumble something about him. Because of that, Okonkwo takes his gun and shoots at his wife but misses. This shows that that Ekwefi has done contemptible things to deserve punishment from her husband, this being one of them and perhaps the most severe. This can be seen when he decides to use a gun against his wife in order to discipline her. However, Okonkwo loves her just as much as he loves his other two wives, which can be seen as he breathes out a heavy sigh and leaves with his gun, which can represent his disappointment in his wife’s actions.

Despite the fact that Okonkwo cares and loves his wives, he still prioritizes his pride over anything else.

Important Terms:

• Okonkwo: the main character
• Nwoye’s mother: the mother of Nwoye, Okonkwo’s firstborn son, and Okonkwo’s 1st wife
• Ekwefi: Okonkwo’s 2nd wife
• Ojiugo: Okonkwo’s 3rd wife
• Week of Peace: the week of peace where no one is allowed to commit violence or else they will be punished

Quote #1

“Her husband’s first wife had already had three sons, all strong and healthy. When she had borne her third son in succession, Okonkwo had slaughtered a goat for her, as was the custom.” (Chinua Achebe, 59)

Commentary

In this quote, Nwoye’s mother has given to multiple sons, which is something that needs to be celebrated. Okonkwo acknowledges and congratulates her by slaughtering the goat, showing how he still cares and loves her in his own way. He is not overly expressive in his love, but it can still be noticed how he cares for her, along with all of his other wives as well.